Fifty years ago, the Vietnamese resistance turned the tide against the United States war on their nation.
Eric Ruder
The “peace process” between Israel and the Palestinians that began with the signing of accords in Oslo, Norway, 20 years ago last month was widely celebrated at the time as an important step toward establishing a “viable Palestinian state”.
But in the two decades since, the Palestinian economy has been further decimated. Israel has expanded its Jewish-only settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza has been subjected to a suffocating siege and regular military strikes.
In short, conditions for Palestinians have worsened, and Israel's colonial domination has been enhanced.
The streets of Oakland, California, echoed with the voices of tens of thousands of people determined to take a stand on November 2. Workers, students, activists and people from all walks of life responded to the call for a general strike by Occupy Oakland.
The last general strike in the United States was in 1946 (also in Oakland).
A nearly two-month-long student strike that shut down all 11 campuses of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) ended in a decisive victory for the students.
The students’ inspiring unity, determination and creativity serve as a magnificent example of how to fight and win in the face of neoliberal attempts to balance budgets in this era of global austerity.
The strike began April 21 as a 48-hour stoppage at UPR’s main campus of Rio Piedras to protest US$100 million in budget cuts, a sharp increase in student fees and the administration’s unwillingness to negotiate with student activists.
The crude oil belching out of the floor of the Gulf of Mexico since the explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20 has formed giant plumes beneath the surface of the water.
That’s the latest nightmarish evidence that the gulf oil catastrophe, among the worst ecological disasters in US history, is much worse than either corporate giant BP or government officials have admitted.
People across the world were shocked at the news that a US Army psychiatrist went on a shooting rampage on November 5 at Fort Hood army base in Texas, killing 13 people and injuring dozens.
Gaza is under attack by one of the most deadly military machines on the planet — with even worse to come as Israel masses troops for a threatened ground invasion.
More than 200 US military veterans and active-duty troops from Iraq and Afghanistan will participate in a four-day event in Washington, to shed light on the atrocities committed by US occupation forces.
Some 100,000 protesters flooded Tel Avivs Rabin Square on May 3 to call for the ouster of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. But after surviving three no-confidence votes in parliament a few days later, it appeared that Olmert would hang on.
